The fear of my Lord and modesty restrain me, and I honor my husband lest his status be violated.

Then Umar asked some women: "How long can a woman endure being away from her husband?" They replied: "Two months; in the third, patience wanes; and in the fourth, patience runs out." So he wrote to the commanders of the armies: "Do not keep a man away from his wife for more than four months."

Section: If he attaches the Ila' to an impossible condition, such as saying: "By Allah, I will not have intercourse with you until you ascend to the sky, or turn a stone into gold, or until the crow turns white," he is a Muli. This is because the meaning of that is the abandonment of intercourse with her, for that which is intended to be impossible to exist is attached to impossibilities. Allah, the Almighty, said regarding the disbelievers: "And they will not enter Paradise until the camel enters into the eye of a needle" [Surah Al-A'raf: 40]. Its meaning is that they will never enter Paradise. Some of them have said:

When the crow turns white, I will come to my family, and pitch becomes like fresh milk.

And if he says: "By Allah, I will not have intercourse with you until you conceive," he is a Muli, because her conception without intercourse is customarily impossible, so it is like ascending to the sky. The Qadi, Abu al-Khattab, and the companions of al-Shafi'i said: He is not a Muli unless she is a young girl for whom it is strongly presumed that she will not conceive within four months, or she is a woman past menopause. As for if she is a woman who experiences menstrual cycles, he is not a Muli, because it is possible for her to conceive. The Qadi said: If the young girl is nine years old, he is not a Muli, because her conception is possible. We argue that conception without intercourse is customarily impossible, so attaching the oath to it is an Ila', just like ascending to the sky. The evidence for its impossibility is the statement of Maryam: "How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?" [Surah Maryam: 20]. And their statement: "O sister of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste" [Surah Maryam: 28].